Simone Manuel Does It Again: Becomes First American Woman To Place Top-Two In Both 50 & 100 Freestyle

Silver medalist Simone Manuel celebates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the women's 50-meter freestyle final on day eight of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on Aug. 13, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Simone Manuel kicked off the final night of swimming for the U.S. Olympic team with a silver-medal finish in the women’s 50-meter freestyle at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on Saturday.

Manuel reached the wall in 24.09, only two hundredths of a second off Dara Torres’ American record from the 2008 Beijing Games. Canada’s Pernille Blume took home the gold medal in 24.07, while Belarus’ Aliaksandra Herasimenia finished third in 24.11.

Manuel's night does not end with a silver medal, however, as she will anchor the women’s 4x100-meter medley team later in the evening.

Manuel won the 100-meter freestyle in 52.70 on Thursday evening, setting an American record and tying with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak to set an Olympic record. The win made Manuel the first ever African-American woman to win an individual medal in swimming.

No U.S. woman had ever finished top-two in both freestyle sprint races before.